Henderson Mennonite Centennial

Thirty-five families formed the original Mennonite settlement in York and Hamilton Counties, Nebraska, as part of a large migration that left South Russia in 1874 for the American plains. Originally from Holland, these people, committed to peace as a way of life, had moved to Russia and then to the Crimea in 1790. When their privileges of military exemption and religious freedom were threatened, thousands emigrated to North America. The Mennonite immigrants bought land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, whose company erected an immigrant house to shelter newcomers until their homes were built. By 1878 about eighty families lived in the settlement, and a town established in 1887 was named for David Henderson, an earlier homesteader. Faith in God and perseverance sustained the settlers through difficult experiences. When deep-well irrigation became widespread in the area in the 1930s, fields of corn replaced the famous Turkey Red hard winter wheat they had brought from Russia, beginning a new era in agriculture and industry.

Henderson, Nebraska · United States